Jailed for life: Binge-drinking 'feral thugs' who kicked to death gap year student because she was dressed as a Goth

A judge condemned the prevalence of drunken street violence yesterday as he gave life sentences to two feral youths for kicking a gap- year student to death because she was dressed as a Goth.

Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, 21, were set upon by five binge-drinking teenagers as they walked through a park last summer.

The gang, who had drunk cider, lager and peach schnapps, kicked Mr Maltby unconscious, before two of them turned on Miss Lancaster as she cradled her boyfriend's head in her arms.

Killers: Brendan Harris, 15, and Ryan Herbert, 16, murdered Miss Lancaster and assaulted her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, as they walked through a park last August

Judge Anthony Russell QC said: "This was feral thuggery of a kind that is quite unacceptable.

"It raises serious questions about the state of the society which exists in this country at the beginning of a new millennium, which was heralded with such optimism.

"Regrettably, cases where gangs of youths attack others viciously, sometimes using weapons, sometimes using their own brute force through their feet, are becoming more prevalent.

"I want the message to go out loud and clear that cowardly thugs who kick others senseless are sentencing themselves to lengthy custodial terms.

The gap year student was stamped and kicked to death so violently paramedics could not tell if she was a man or a woman when they found her

"This attack was described as you all acting like a pack of wild animals . . . at least wild animals when they hunt as a pack have a legitimate reason for so doing - to obtain food. You had none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself."

The judge also condemned the "swaggering" behaviour of the defendants in court and said they had shown little remorse.

Preston Crown Court heard that Miss Lancaster and Mr Maltby, both from Bacup, Lancashire, were making their way through the town's Stubbylee Park shortly after midnight on August 10 when they came across Brendan Harris, 15, Ryan Herbert, 16, Daniel Mallett, 17, and brothers Joseph and Danny Hulme, 17 and 16.

Mr Maltby, 21, cannot remember the attack and has struggled to come to terms with Sophie's death and his guilt that he survived. He says: 'I just wish she had left me to die'

Without provocation, the gang turned on Mr Maltby, an art student. Harris started the violence with a flying kick to his head.

Miss Lancaster, who was due to start an English degree at university a month later, cradled her boyfriend's head in her lap and begged his laughing attackers to leave him alone.

But Herbert and Harris began "savagely and mercilessly" raining down blows on her head "as though it was a football" until she fell into a coma.

Sophie's mother Sylvia released this picture of her in hospital after the attack following the trial. The 20-year-old was on a ventilator and never regained consciousness

They left the couple for dead.

Although Mr Maltby survived, he suffered lasting injuries and has virtually no memory of the attack. Miss Lancaster never regained consciousness.

Harris was convicted of Miss Lancaster's murder following a trial last month. He pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent against Mr Maltby and was sentenced to two life

terms. The judge told him he must serve a minimum 18 years before he is eligible for parole.

Herbert, who admitted murder and GBH with intent, was given two life sentences and will serve at least 16 years and three months.

The Hulme brothers received indefinite sentences after admitting GBH with intent on Mr Maltby.

They will serve a minimum of five years and ten months.

Mallett, who admitted the same charge, wept as he was also given an indefinite sentence. He will serve at least four years and four months.

The youths all live in Bacup apart from the Hulme brothers, who are from nearby Whitworth.